Dollars and Sense
Let's get back to Pat Burrell for a second. I get the sense the Phillies want Jamie Moyer and Scott Eyre back. Ruben Amaro Jr. already has said pitching is a priority, and Moyer and Eyre would be a good place to start. Burrell? I think the Phillies would like Burrell back, but only at their price. I also think they would like to get younger and more athletic at that position, which makes them less inclined to get into a bidding war with anybody. Burrell is 32. He hit .210 from July 10 through the end of the season. If a team makes a three-year offer for Burrell, I can't see the Phillies matching the years or dollars.
Dollars and Sense
Todd Zolecki
Let's get back to Pat Burrell for a second. I get the sense the Phillies want Jamie Moyer and Scott Eyre back. Ruben Amaro Jr. already has said pitching is a priority, and Moyer and Eyre would be a good place to start. Burrell? I think the Phillies would like Burrell back, but only at their price. I also think they would like to get younger and more athletic at that position, which makes them less inclined to get into a bidding war with anybody. Burrell is 32. He hit .210 from July 10 through the end of the season. If a team makes a three-year offer for Burrell, I can't see the Phillies matching the years or dollars.
Plus, the Phillies already have a lot of money committed to 2009.
Consider the players already under contract next season:
- Brett Myers made $8.5 million in 2008. He will make $12 million in 2009.
- Chase Utley made $8.5 million. He will make $11.25 million, which includes a $250,000 signing bonus.
- Brad Lidge made $6.35 million. He will make $11.5 million.
- Jimmy Rollins made $8 million. He will make $8.5 million, which includes a $1 million signing bonus.
- Adam Eaton made $8.125 million. He will make $8.5 million.
- Geoff Jenkins made $5 million. He will make $8 million, which includes a $1.25 million buyout on a 2010 club option.
- Pedro Feliz made $3 million. He will make $5.5 million, which includes a $500,000 buyout on a 2010 club option.
- J.C. Romero made $3.75 million. He will make $4 million.
- Matt Stairs will make $1 million.
Players that made $51.225 million last season are scheduled to make $70.25 million next season.
Now consider the 10 players eligible for salary arbitration: Joe Blanton ($3.7 million last season), Eric Bruntlett ($600,000), Clay Condrey ($420,000), Greg Dobbs ($440,000), Chad Durbin ($900,000), Cole Hamels ($500,000), Ryan Howard ($10 million), Ryan Madson ($1.4 million), Shane Victorino ($480,000) and Jayson Werth ($1.7 million).
Those 10 players made $20.14 million last season. They will make much more than that in 2009. How much? It's tough to say. But let's say that group makes $30 million next season, which I think is a conservative estimate. That means the Phillies already have spent more than $100 million on salaries after opening last season with a $103 million payroll.
Remember, that doesn't include potential salaries for Moyer, who made $7 million last season, or Eyre, who made $3.8 million. That doesn't include Jim Thome's payout, which is around $3 million next season. That doesn't include salaries for players like Carlos Ruiz, Chris Coste, Greg Golson, Kyle Kendrick or J.A. Happ or Carlos Carrasco or whomever else might fill out the rotation and bullpen. The Phillies' payroll, once you include those potential salaries, is more than $115 million.
And that's before addressing the left field situation.
I can't believe we STILL owe Thome, #3 mil! But this is his final paycheck from the Phillies, right? Gee. Wonder if ticket prices go up next year? LOL!— Norma- Zo....Totally unrelated to the topic, but....Now that we know that Flash, Taguchi, Smith and possibly Pat, won't be back next year, how/when/where do they get their World Series rings? I would hope that Pat is invited to Philly to get his. He was a huge part of the team for a long time. Also, do they get their rings on Opening Day?— Norma
- One could surmise that Ryan's, Cole's and Shane's raises in arbitration could easily eat up Pat's money. It's gonna be a wallet busting year for the front office. Small price to pay for a World Series win. But ticket prices will rise, sellouts will increase and most of us will be happily pay anyway.— jimmymack
- Ticket prices went up last year. You can bet they will go up again this year.— Beef69
- NEWS FLASH.....National League Gold Gloves will announced on ESPN at 4:00! J.Roll, again? Chase? Shane?— Norma
- jimmy.....I bit the bullet and put in a deposit for partial season tickets. At least I'm guaranteed 17 games! Can you give me an idea of how the seats are assigned? Do I get to pick or do they automatically assign me seats?— Norma
- The World Serries Champions usually increase their revenue from merchandise sales. If you're the Yankees or Red Sox, with a fan base not only all over teh country but all over the world, you make more then the Phillies whose fan base is basically confined to the tri state area. If you want tickets to stay the same, get all your friends to buy a phillies hat or jersey.— jeff gross
- congradulations on your season tickets Norma. This time you'll get tickets to the parade with no problems— jeff gross
- Sunday Plan. Can't beat it. Prob alot of Sunday night ESPN games this year too.— Beef69
- Rollins and Shane got gold gloves. congrats to both.— timm2
- Gold Glove....Two out of three ain't bad! Congrats J.Roll and Shane! And glad to know the ESPN guys thought Chase should have gotten the 2nd base award! His #'s proved he was the best defensive 2nd baseman in all of baseball. I thought that maybe errors counted in the decision, but Wright made more. Chase was robbed!!!— Norma
- Norma: good for you, congrats. Call the ticket office and ask them nicely for what section you would like. Otherwise, they will assign. Get the name of the person and then call back every week...LOL. I've moved my Sunday plan tickets every year, they are pretty nice people in the ticket office, ya just gotta persevere. Good luck.— jimmymack
- I thought they were done paying Thome after 2008?— RollinsWasRight
- David Montgomery said during a TV broadcast that he COULD see next year's payroll approaching $130M... if it does, they still have a little money to play with... I would hope that winning the World Series would be the best of all worlds in terms of next year's payroll. They should see a 3rd straight season of increased attendance (likely with more costly ticket and parking prices), plus significantly increased merchandise sales, plus how crazy will Spring Training be this year? I am not sure how much extra revenue that amounts to, but still... they should have money to work with. Not Manny money, per se, or CC money, but they don't need either of those guys.— RollinsWasRight
- Congrats to Jimmy and Shane. What a joke that David Wright won...again. I know he is athletic as anything, and makes some truly spectacular plays, but his propensity to butcher routine plays should could against him, no? Ryan Zimmerman is a vastly superior defensive 3B. It also bugs me that OFs are held to their primary position. 3 OF Gold Gloves, all 3 to CFs. That just seems wrong. I know if they gave them out by primary position, Shane probably wouldn't have won (Carlos Beltran is REALLY good in CF), but still... just doesn't seem right. You either are the best at YOUR position, or you aren't.— RollinsWasRight
